How come I have to pay a licence fee to the BBC for something I don’t want, they claim its to pay for the BBC but if I choose not to watch the BBC then why should I still have to pay, is the fee for the right to watch TV or is it for the right to watch BBC programs, why not have TV's that do not receive BBC channels and then give people the choice of paying for the BBC or just having channels supported by independent advertising. It is high time the BBC was forced to support its self and to operate on the same playing field as the rest of the channels out there. As a licence payer you are the people paying the executives huge wages for very little in return, true they could earn more elsewhere and I say go and work elsewhere as far as I am concerned, I want to see the BBC exposed for what they are a second rate TV channel well behind the times riding the backs of the TV viewing public.
If I choose to subscribe to Sky or any other pay per view channels I still have to pay for the BBC even if I don’t want it or have paid in my package to receive it so I would then be paying twice for this rubbish they churn out.
I say scrap the fee and let’s see how long the BBC lasts when it has to compete for views and income, at the moment we could all turn off the BBC and still they would get their money from the extortion of the fee from us the public. They award huge pay rises to the bosses and say that we are the shareholders and yet no one asked for my vote on wages for the bosses, if they had I would have voted no to the wages offered to the bosses and voted to give it to the workers of the BBC, the people who actually do the work.
I hate the BBC because it is not a real TV company and is the mouth piece of the Monarchy and as such perhaps the queen could pay for her own channels, after all if we have no choice its just another stealth tax, give the people the choice as should they pay or elect to use another, better service on the market. It seems strange that no other company is allowed to have a monopoly on anything at all and yet here the BBC has a monopoly on TV sets, they do not make them, they do not sell them yet they make money from every sale and user, surely this is a farce in anyone’s book.
I can not wait until the day when the license fee's are scrapped and the BBC's strangle hold on TV's is broken and they are exposed as the second rate service gravy train that they are, they are leeches feeding of the British public and it has to stop. Contact your local MP and demand this is debated in a public enquiry and that the fee's are scrapped as soon as possible, why should they get money from the use and sale of TV's.
A television licence (or broadcast receiver licence) is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television (and sometimes also radio) broadcasts. It is a form of hypothecation tax to fund public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from radio and television commercials.
The television licence was originally known as a radio licence, and was used to fund public radio broadcasting. With the arrival of television some countries created a separate additional television licence, while others simply increased the radio licence fee to cover the additional cost of TV broadcasting, changing the licence's name from "radio licence" to "TV licence" or "receiver licence". Today most countries fund public radio broadcasting from the same licence fee that is used for television, although a few still have separate radio licences, or apply a lower or no fee at all for consumers who only have a radio. Some countries also have different fees for users with colour or monochrome TV. Many give discounts, or charge no fee, for elderly and/or disabled consumers. This was of course conceived when there was no advertising and proves by its existence the fear and desire the Governments have of a free TV system, if they cant control TV they cant stop freedom of speech being exercised, this would be a fairer system and give all political parties the chance to speak freely and without the controls of the serving puppet governments of the UK.
In the United Kingdom, the current annual cost for a colour television licence (as of 1 April 2008) is £139.50 (approximately €176) and £47.00 (approximately €59) for monochrome TV (black and white). The licence fee is charged on a family unit per household basis, which means there could be multiple licences per household. The majority of UK domestic customers will require one licence per household. The licence fee is used to fund the BBC's radio, television and internet services.
A similar licence, mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radio, but was abolished in 1971.
There are concessions for the elderly (free for over-75s), the licence fee here being paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions. Blind people get a 50% discount on their licence or completely free if only in possession of an audio only receiver. Residents of residential care homes (for the elderly and people with physical/mental disabilities) can apply for a special licence called the licence for Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) which is £7.50 per year.
The licence fee represents approximately 75% of the BBC's income with most of the rest coming from the sale of its programming overseas and other business allied to broadcasting such as publishing. However, the UK's second public broadcaster, Channel 4, has claimed that it may need licence fee income if it is to continue with public broadcasting after the digital switch-over, are they joking, they have adverts to pay for their business. To this end, on April 25, 2006, it was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over bill would be paid for from the licence fee, so we wont be seeing adverts on Channel 4, don’t hold your breath. Some of S4C's programmes such as Pobol y Cwm and Newyddion, are made by BBC Wales and provided free of charge to S4C, meaning they are paid for by the licence fee.
So if I am paying a fee for the BBC then why can I not have a TV that does not receive BBC or Channel 4 broadcasts, then I could enjoy TV without the hypothecation tax I am present forced to pay against my will, is that freedom, I think not...
Radio licence fees were introduced in Australia in the 1920s to fund the first privately owned broadcasters which were not permitted to sell advertising. With the formation of the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 the licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while the privately owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Television licence fees were also introduced in 1956 when the ABC began TV transmissions.
All licence fees were abolished in 1974 by the Australian Labour Party government led by Gough Whitlam on the basis that the near-universality of television and radio services meant that public funding was a fairer method of providing revenue for government-owned radio and television broadcasters. The ABC has since then been funded by government grants, now totalling around A$800 million a year, and its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.). In the early 1990s, passing criticism of ABC content was often referred to by the term "where your 8 cents a day goes", referring to the cost each Australian was indirectly contributing to the ABC.
Now why can’t we have a system like the Australian’s that is fairer?
There is another way and we should be exploring ways to remove the burdens of public broadcast from the public and shift it to the private sector and Government, only then will we enjoy competitive TV for all.
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